


Five Thousand

by BlueU



Category: Highlander: The Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-05
Updated: 2010-02-05
Packaged: 2017-10-07 01:25:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueU/pseuds/BlueU
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five thousand immortals, and every one of us a universal receiver.</p><p>Written for lavvyan's John!Farr universe:</p><p>http://community.livejournal.com/john_farr/</p><p>Note: While I'd call this story Gen, Teen, and without pairings or triggery content, this not true for the rest of the universe. As this story will not make sense without reading the rest of the universe, YMMV. Thus the "Not Rated" and "Choose not to use archive warnings" label.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Thousand

_"The controversial trial of Andrew Martick ended earlier today with a verdict of not guilty for the charge of second degree murder in the death of universal receiver Tracy Jenkins. Martick was instead convicted of the lesser charge of cycling induced manslaughter. Martick had a history violent cycling, but withheld this information from both Ms. Jenkins and the cycling service that employed her when scheduling their engagement. It was the opinion of the district attorney that withholding this information constituted depraved indifference, and that had Martick told Ms. Jenkins or her employer of his condition, steps would have been taken to ensure her safety. However, the defense successfully argued that Martick was unaware that his cycle presented any danger to Ms. Jenkins, citing the commonly held belief that cyclers are unable to harm universal receivers during-"_

Joe cut the TV of mid sentence and slammed the remote down on the bar.

"Can you believe they bought that load crap? I swear, people are getting stupider all the... Adam?"

Adam was starting darkly are at beer bottle in front him. The last time Joe had seen his friend look this world weary was the night that Byron died. It was times like this that brought home to him that Adam Pierson really was Methos, the oldest living immortal, and not just the perpetual grad student he pretended to be.

"Adam? You okay there, buddy?"

Adam's eyes never left the bottle. "It's because of us, Joe."

"What?"

"Do you know how many immortals there are, Joe?"

"About five thousand."

"About five thousand. It's been like that as long as I've been alive. Despite the Game and all the talk of the gathering, there are always about five thousand immortals. And every one of us is a universal receiver. Do you know what the chances are of a mortal being a universal receiver, Joe?"

"About one in five thousand."

"Funny how that number keeps coming back. Do you know what the total human population was five thousand years ago? Twenty-five million. Do that math. Half of the Unis on the planet were immortals."

Adam took a pull from the bottle, then slammed it back down.

"'You can't get a Uni pregnant.' 'You can't get pregnant from a Uni.' 'Unis don't cycle themselves.' 'You can't catch anything from a Uni, or give them anything.' 'You can't hurt a Uni when you're cycling.' Anything seem familiar there, Joe?"

"Umm..."

"Of course, it's not so much 'Can't be hurt' as 'Don't stay hurt.' No marks, you see. As late as the Renaissance you could expect almost one Uni in twenty to be an immortal. Enough to reinforce a lot of myths. And this stupidity is the result."

Adam pushed his stool back from the bar, gathering up his coat. He left the bottle.

"Adam! You didn't finish your beer."

"I just can't stomach it right now, Joe."

Joe watched his friend walk towards the door. It was almost eighty degrees outside, and Adam was wearing long sleeves and gloves, in addition to the duster still draped over his arm. He could tell from the swing of the coat that along with the sword in the hidden sheath along the back, there was a knife and gun concealed in its pockets.

For a moment, Joe wondered if it was mortals or immortals Methos felt the stronger needed to defend himself against.


End file.
